The present disclosure relates to a method and device for closing railroad car doors, particularly doors of hopper cars, which are disposed on an underside of the railroad car. Following delivery and unloading of the transported commodity (e.g., grain, coal, aggregates, etc.) through the doors, the doors hang down, sometimes vertically and sometimes at a lesser angle to the horizontal, such as about 45°. These metal doors typically weigh about 400 lbs. each and are difficult to move manually even under ideal conditions. Moreover, the doors can be exceedingly difficult to move if doors and/or hinges are worn or improperly maintained and practically impossible to completely close using conventional manual techniques when the door is bent or warped. Manual closure of the doors requires one or more workers to be under the rail car. Occasionally, workers have been injured when the doors do not close completely, fail to latch, and then swing back into the worker(s). Additionally, the physical strain of moving the heavy doors can also produce injuries.
Accordingly, various automated or semi-automated means for closing the doors of a railroad hopper car have been developed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,508 to Connelly describes a rail car door closer wherein two closer assemblies are mounted adjacent to each rail of a track on a frame which passes below and between the rails. Each assembly includes a hydraulic closer jack, a hydraulic lifting jack and a hydraulic swing motor for orienting the closer jack relative to a door. The jack is extendable to contact a door and push it to a closed position. The jack assemblies can be pivoted 180° by the swing motor to close the door of the forward car and then the rearward car without having to reposition the train.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,262 to Turpin, Sr. describes a closer for hopper car doors including a supporting frame structure associated with the rails on which a series of hopper cars are rollingly supported together with power actuated devices that will pivot the hopper car doors from a generally vertical, downwardly extending open position which exists after the hopper car has been unloaded for engaging the hopper car doors and pivoting them about their transversely extending supporting axis to a closed, latched position. The power devices include transversely extending support shafts with a pair of laterally extending arms rigid therewith with each arm including a wheel at the outer end thereof for engaging the hopper car doors when the transverse shafts are pivoted. The transverse shafts are pivoted by hydraulically operated piston and cylinder assemblies connected to a laterally extending arm on one end portion of each shaft with activation devices being positioned in the path of movement of the hopper cars to activate the closer when the hopper car doors are in appropriate position for engagement by the wheels for movement of the hopper car doors to a closed, latched position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,120,412 to Miller et al. describes a trackside door closing arrangement for closing the swinging doors of a railway hopper car includes a pair of pneumatic tires and wheels mounted on a pivot arm. The tires are interconnected for rotation in concert and during engagement with the doors, swing them inwardly to a closed position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,011,956 to Green et al. shows a side of track closure mechanism is provided for engaging and exerting an inwardly directed lateral thrust against bottom dump doors of a hopper car for hingedly moving the doors inwardly to a closed position. The actuating mechanism includes a rotating arm having actuating apparatus at one end which when placed in an index position is adapted to engage the doors of bottom dump hopper cars as they move along a track adjacent to which the closure mechanism is positioned.
However, the aforementioned methods suffer from various disadvantages. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,508 to Connelly requires the train to move multiple times relative to the fixed door closer assembly to close all of the car doors, which is slow and time consuming.